


The Night Shift: Broken Promises

by Ginclevertitle93



Series: The Night Shift [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dipper Pines and Grunkle Stan Bonding, Hurt/Comfort, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15956447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginclevertitle93/pseuds/Ginclevertitle93
Summary: Dipper Promised he wouldn't hurt her in his beastly form, or anyone. But one thing leads to another...Part of The night shift.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part of The night shift werewolf fic,   
> takes some days later after chapters 1-6

                Dipper stumbled weakly to Mabel, his injuries taking its toll and was getting dazed from it. His black nose bled as well, keeping the stench of blood quite literally stuck in his nose. He fell to all fours, wobbling, feeling weak and exhausted. He dropped to the forest floor at Mabel’s feet.

“Dipper?” she cried.

She set the duffel bag down, dropped to the ground, and cradled his head gently as he panted weakly. She stroked his fur calmingly.

“You feeling ok bro bro?”

“Well I’m sure me bleeding means I’m definitely not ok…”

“I know, I mean do you feel ok despite that?”

“Yeah…just really tired…”He panted. “I’m more worried about you, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even get a bruise! Though my arms kinda hurt…”

Dipper rubbed his snout against her arm softly to comfort her; he didn’t smell any cuts as he did so thankfully.

Mabel giggled and scratched his snout, a smile formed on Dipper’s lips.

“Well that helps!” she messed up the fur on his head and Dipper chuckled in response, his tail slightly wagging. He rubbed his snout against her stomach in an excited manner and Mabel noogied his head in response.

“Hey cut it out Mabel!” he chuckled as his tongue lolled. He snorted playfully and sat up; he was getting excited…too excited in fact. Dipper instinctively rolled to his back, and let out a yelp of pain, he was so lost in the moment he forgot about his own injuries.

He winced, rolled away from Mabel, flailed and flipped over quickly, sitting up half way in a weak manner; Dipper turned himself slowly to Mabel, dragging himself a few inches. His face grimaced and he instinctively let out a small whine.

Mabel was caught off guard for a moment by his yelp; she scooted away quickly when he rolled away from her, not wanting to get hit by him by accident.

She gave him a look of concern and surprise; she crawled back over to him, stroking his head soothingly.

“Are you ok?"

“No, why would you ask that, and why would you ask that twice?” he winced and groaned as he spoke; he did not sound angry however.

“That was a reflex question, sorry.” She cringed in embarrassment.

“It’s fine…agh…” he seemed to struggle as he got up to fours, his back left leg quivering. He let out a pained whine. He stumbled backwards and gritted his teeth, taking a few weak steps as he tried turning to the direction of the shack.

“Come on we have to hurry, it’s not safe out here…I don’t think I can protect ourselves in my condition right now…”

He held still as he gave a pained expression, whimpering. Mabel rose to her feet and stood by his side, patting his back lightly and stroking it; giving him a comforting smile.

“Hang in there bro; we’re not that far from the shack so you don’t have to walk that much." “Yeah…yeah…let’s hope we don’t get blindsided.” Dipper sounded lethargic and seemed to sway; he could barely stand on four legs.

“You sure you can make it back like this…you look like you can barely walk!” Mabel stared at him worriedly as she picked up the bag and threw the strap over her shoulder; he looked like he could pass out at any moment.

The oversized pup turned his head slightly to eye her.

“It’s fine; it’s just a little more difficult to walk, I-I can make it.” he stuttered and groaned; attempting to sound calm and reassuring. It wasn’t very convincing to Mabel.

“Don’t push yourself too hard…”

He turned his head away from her slowly, gritting his teeth tightly. He made a low growl as he took a few steps forward; he grew stiff and held still after only moving an inch of his back left leg. He sucked in a mouthful of air and squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a distressed whine mixed with a growl. Dipper hesitated to move it, leaving his leg hanging in the air for a few seconds; shivering. He slowly opened his eyes and carefully set his leg down; he cringed as pain coursed through it. His voice was heard as he groaned and whimpered; his tail slightly between his legs. He just stood there for a while shaking; he inhaled deeply and scrunched up his face; he exhaled slowly and then let out another quick loud huff, shaking his head quickly as he did so.

“Ok, just keep it together; just suck it up until we get back.” Dipper muttered under his breath, sounding slightly agonized.  
Dipper continued to hobble weakly to the shack at a snail’s pace; he was a little faster than before now that he wasn’t taking two minutes just to move.

 

                Mabel uncomfortably fiddled with a small strand of her hair as she watched her wolfish brother struggle to walk, whimpering and growling after every few steps. He wasn’t making much progress with that wound on his leg; it actually looked pretty nasty after giving it a long look. She bit her lip and looked to her side in thought. She adjusted the strap on her left arm and quickly walked to his side; she placed her right hand on his back again, gently stroking it.

Dipper’s ears perked and looked up at her, her expression sorrowful.

“Dipper…you’re limping pretty badly, you sure you don’t want me to help you back? I feel like you’re gonna fall over.”

“Mabel its ok don’t worry, I’m not gonna fall over.” He had a nervous smile; he was practically lying through his teeth and he knew there was no fooling her.

A strong surge of agony went through his wounded leg as he placed it down and he collapsed to the ground, Dipper let out a surprised yelp of pain.

“Dipper!” Mabel kneeled to the whimpering pup, her hand hovering above him, unsure if he wanted to be touched at the moment with him currently in agony.

The wolf boy slowly lifted himself up, gritting his teeth and his claws digging into the earth. As he sat up, he looked at Mabel in the eyes; his baring fangs turned into a sheepish, reassuring smile.

“Ok, so this might be harder than I thought.” Dipper remarked with uneasy laughter.

Mabel shook her head and gave him a smile; she scratched his neck in relief and nudged him playfully, giggling. Dipper winced slightly, keeping his smile.

“Ow, careful, I’m sore again, easy easy!”

“Sorry bro bro…you freaked me out there, I thought for a sec something other than your leg hurt you when you fell, like you stepped into a bear trap or something; kind of dumb of me to think that huh?”

“No I had the same thought when I panicked, guess we’re both dumb.” Dipper remarked sort of chuckling at the end. Mabel rubbed the messy fur on his head affectionately and lightly side hugged him, laughing quietly.

“Hey I’ll fix you up when we get back; I’ll disinfect the cuts, grab some ice and wrap you up in a blanket, burrito style!” She giggled as she patted his head.

“That all sounds pretty good to me right now.” Dipper’s tone was relaxed, his tail wagging. Just the thought of it felt calming to him; he stretched out his front paws. “Should probably eat something too, we haven’t eaten anything since we left in the afternoon.”

“Hmm…I’m feeling either hot dogs or pizza.”

“Both sound good to me too.” By complete instinct, he licked his nose and lips. Dipper flinched in shock for what he just did; looking mortified; his tail clinging close to his right leg.

“Ha-ha, you’re such a hungry puppy!” Mabel teased as she poked his nose, laughing.

Dipper flattened his ears and he looked away sheepishly, making a wolf like groan.

“Man these instincts…” he mumbled to himself in annoyance.

“Heh heh…Lets go you goof.” She giggled while patting his head.

Mabel slowly got up, her eyes still on Dipper; he seemed to be trying to stand up, but he looked reluctant and was getting up extremely slow, slightly growling before sitting down again.

“You need help getting up?” Mabel asked curiously.

“I…I…I think I can…” Dipper’s face strained as he tried to lift himself, he whined and sat down again. “Y-yeah, I-I need help, it honestly hurts to move at all now. Just be gentle with me…agh.” Dipper groaned, lying down.

Mabel once again knelt down, her hands on the wolf.

“Careful…” Dipper whispered, showing a bit of his fangs in apprehension.

“I’m careful, chill...” Mabel responded softly.

Her hands went under his stomach lightly; gently, she slowly tried lifting him.

Dipper held his breath and braced himself.

“Hang on, I got you so hold still, I’m going to carry you back bro!”

He cringed at this.

“Really? With me like this, I probably weigh a ton; I don’t think you can-”

Mabel scooped him up easily in her arms, flipping him over, holding the oversized pup by the back in both arms; he only felt a small amount of pain as she lifted him. Dipper looked surprised and at most, humiliated; if his face wasn’t covered in fur, he would look completely red. He drew his limbs close to his body and his tail instinctively went between his legs. He just stared into the night sky blankly in disbelief. He appreciated the solution, but he had to admit, he looked pretty goofy being carried in this fashion. He turned his eyes to Mabel’s; she was biting her lip with a smile, trying to hold back her laughter.

“Ahaha, sorry Dipdop, but you look adorable huddled up like this. You’re like a baby!” She snickered.

Dipper scowled, not that Mabel cared.

“…Well...um, are you ok with this, this seems like a lot for you to carry…”Dipper asked with concern.

“It’s all pretty heavy but I can make it back, don’t worry…”Mabel sounded like she was already out of breath but refused to lose her smile.

She quickly lumbered as she held him tight and secured; Dipper looked away from Mabel, he felt guilty having to put his sister through all this trouble.

“Sorry…”

“For what?”

“For this inconvenience …”

“You don’t have to say sorry about that!”

“I know but I feel like I made you my pack mule.” Dipper chuckled nervously.

“It’s ok bro bro, it’s worth it.” Mabel blew air teasingly on his nose; his nose twitched in reaction and sneezed; Mabel giggled. Dipper gave her a tiny smile and sighed, relaxing his body.

“…Hey, be-be careful with that bag.” Dipper felt himself shift in Mabel’s arms and began to panic a little. “Hey wait, be careful with me too; don’t drop me!” Dipper cried as he adjusted position slightly to prevent himself from falling out of Mabel’s arms; his legs kicked around in a slow fashion, he almost got Mabel in the nose by accident. She gave him an irritated glance as she tried fixing him in her arms.

“Well don’t kick me in the face and stop flailing around, just chill alright? I won’t drop you.”

“Sorry! Just trying to stay in your arms and get comfortable…I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“Nah you didn’t get me, I’m just warning you.”

“Good…that’s good.” Dipper leaned his head towards her, looking sleepy.

Mabel made a quiet “Aww” as she observed the tired werepuppy.

“You can sleep if you want you know.” Mabel chirped.

“I rather not, I don’t want us completely vulnerable.” Dipper replied; Mabel took note that his ear was twitching quite a bit, probably keeping an eye…or ear in this case, out for nasty surprises that might be waiting for them.

Mabel eyed her bag then back to Dipper in thought.

“So um…what will any of this stuff do? Besides the blue flower I mean.”

“I only know what a few of them do…I’m not entirely sure about the others.”

“You mean we went on a quest for a flower and some random stuff on a list you made and you don’t even know what they’re all for?” Mabel sounded slightly confused…and suspicious. 

“Look some of the things on the list was mentioned in stories and other things I looked up, like…um…to rub on yourself to smell like wet dog so not to attract werewolves…somehow…and um…Ok Mabel, most of that stuff on the list I wrote was for you. All I know is the flower; I grabbed the other important stuff just in case.”

“I thought so, what made you want to grab stuff for me too?”

“Well you were coming with me and you were really looking forward to it and I kinda didn’t want to disappoint you because there was so little to find…so I added some stuff you might like just to…make you happy…some of the things we found were just by chance actually. Honestly I didn’t think it would take us that long to find that flower, I didn’t want to put ourselves in danger…So again…I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” Dipper became quieter towards the end of his sentence.

Mabel flashed her braces.

“Aww Dipper you didn’t need to do that; thanks for bringing me along and getting cool stuff for me as well.”

Dipper smiled and he let out a relaxed growl.

 “…So about that blue flower, so how do you pronounce it again; blue Mond-shine?”

“Blau Mondschein; like moonshine.”

“Eh, I was close enough. Anyway, it’s a very pretty flower; it’s like super neon blue! No wonder it’s rare; you could use it as a glow stick!”

“Glow stick? It would be better as a lamp, how would you even use it; just dance around with a potted plant?” Dipper asked in amusement.

“I would put it in my hair, around my wrist or make a flower crown you goof.” She laughed. “Then I can party with it!”

“Of course…”

 

                 Mabel let out a deep sigh of relief as the sight of the shack came into view, muttering “Finally” under her breath. She nearly tripped as she stepped onto the porch much to Dipper’s panic, bracing himself in case he fell from her arms.

She lied against the door, resting for a brief moment; she gave a tired laugh and eyed Dipper, giving him a weak smile; Dipper could see the sweat running down her face and he gave her a worried expression back.

Mabel struggled to unlock the door to the shack in an awkward fashion as she kept her hold on Dipper; she held her breath as she was ready to set Dipper and the bag down, she felt worn and sore; her arms ached all over.

Dipper watched her nervously.

“You know, you can set me down now if you’re having trouble opening it…”

“No…”She huffed in exhaustion. “I can keep going for a bit longer…I think I almost got it.” she sounded out of breath much to Dipper’s worry.

She shoves the door open immediately after unlocking it, hurrying and stumbling to the kitchen as she breathed heavily. Dipper’s left ear perked while his right lowered; her heart was pounding rapidly.

“Mabel?” He could feel her arms shaking and sensed her becoming weaker; she was pushing herself way too hard.

“Mabel!” he cried out stressfully.

Mabel dropped instantly to her knees and set down Dipper gently, feeling burned out. The bag slipped off her shoulder, landing on the floor softly. Her breathing labored, she grasped her chest and coughed roughly, her head bent over forward, appearing she was in deep pain.

The wolf was distressed by her exhaustion; she wasn’t seriously hurt from this, was she? 

“Mabel…?” He asked softly in an inquisitive quiet tone.

She raised her head and leaned back her body, lying on her back on the floor, her limbs sprawled out. She let out a deep breath and stretched her limbs, closing her eyes.

Concerned, Dipper crawled closer to her. He studied her and his ears lowered, letting out a worried whimper.  He sniffed her left arm to her face curiously, checking her. She smelled awfully sweaty; he snorted in disgust and went back to smelling her. Her breathing was beginning to ease much to his relief, and he did not smell or spot any new injuries; he continued to inspect her. Some of the new smells were interesting and distracting to say at least.

Mabel began to giggle as he ran his nose over her face again; his cold nose tickling her skin. The air from his sniffs and snorts contributed to it, and it was so cute too! She opened her eyes and placed a hand on his nose, pushing it away gently.

“Hahaha I’m fine…I just need to lie down for a sec.”

Dipper smiled and placed his head on her stomach; comfortable as he adjusted his head in an adorable manner.

Mabel patted his snout.

“How’s your leg feeling?”

“Still sore but better…What about yourself; you’re not too worn out are you?” Dipper asked with concern.

“Nah, just give Doctor Mabel a few more minutes and I’ll treat you.”

“Take your time.” Dipper rubbed his muzzle against her. “I don’t want you to literally knock yourself out.” he chuckled nervously.

“…Yeah, I won’t.” she yawned, squeezing Dipper’s fur for a moment. She stroked it slowly and an expression of comfort appeared on her face. She moved her arm to his neck and hugged him lightly, letting out a comfortable sound.

“I don’t know bro, I think I’m gonna stay on the floor all night.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow curiously with a smirk.

She looked at him in the eyes and a large grin formed slowly on her face, she snickered and sat up; grabbing the werepup’s face. She nuzzled his head affectionately with her own, rubbing her cheeks against his lush fur. Dipper backed away and snorted playfully, grinning with his sharp fangs.

“Ok bro bro, I’m up I’m up!” She cupped his ears, rubbing and scratching them as she giggled.

“And don’t worry, it’s fine, I got my breath back anyway. Doing a few tiny things isn’t gonna knock me out fluff pup!”

Dipper tilted his head slightly and rubbed her right arm with his muzzle, laughing quietly.

Mabel rose to her feet carefully as she messed his furry face; she threw the bag’s strap over her shoulder and turned to leave quickly with a large smile on her face. Dipper curled up on the cold floor, his wounded leg twitching; he sniffed his leg and looked around the kitchen before placing his head on the floor, sighing through his nose.

“Oh!” Mabel halted and turned to her sleepy brother as she reached the exit of the kitchen; his ears perked.

“Are you still hungry? I can grab something quick for you.” She approached the pup, kneeling down.

The wolf boy eyed her tiredly, his right ear flicking; he lifted his head an inch off the floor, a small smile appeared on his muzzle.

Mabel appeared to be holding her breath, her smile growing larger.

He looked away from her, and let out a single chuckle.

“Yeah…but I can wait, don’t worry yourself.”

Mabel immediately went to the fridge.

“You don’t have to grab anything right now!” he protested.

Mabel shoved whatever she grabbed into the microwave.

“Aren’t you going to eat too?”

“Think of it as an appetizer for you bro, we’ll order pizza later; and besides, you’re the patient, I’m the vet, and I say you need to eat, so hush puppy!”

“…How long have you’ve been waiting to say that?”

The microwave’s alarm went off and Mabel immediately removed the heated plate of food from it. She fumbled with it, nearly dropping it as the plate almost slipped from her hands.

She kneeled and happily set the wolf pups food in front of him.

“Here you go Dipper; I heated up some left over ribs!”

Dipper rose to his paws and stared at the plate with a wary look.

“Mabel…whose leftovers are these?”

“Oh they’re Grunkle Stan’s, I’m sure he won’t miss them.” Mabel patted his nose.

“Being Stan, I’m sure he would.”

“I didn’t take all of them, just a few, it’ll be fine!”

“If I get a rolled up newspaper to the face, then it’s not fine.”

“Hahaha…” Mabel paused and appeared thoughtful for a moment after getting up. Her eyes grew big in realization and inhaled sharply through her teeth as her expression changed to worry.

“Oh shoot, Grunkle Stan! Does he even know we’re back, he hasn’t yelled at us if we’re missing limbs!”

“He’s probably out cold.”

“Heeeeeeeey Grunkle Stan! We’re back and in one piece!” Mabel shouted as she ran off.

                                                                                                                                                                                               

                Dipper watched his sister leave the room and turned his attention to the food she had given him. The wolf pup curiously sniffed his red meaty snack, his ears perked. Eating meat with a bone was a first for him, in wolf form specifically. It smelled pretty tasty, and thankfully it appeared Mabel didn’t give any pieces that Stan already chomped into; eating something that Stan already snacked on, what a disgusting thought. He shuddered as he sat down and closed his eyes.

“It’s ok Dipper, just chill. It’s free of Stan’s slobber.” He muttered to himself as he lifted his head towards the ceiling, he took in a big breath of air through his nose and stretched his front legs.

He opened his eyes and looked unsurely at the ribs.

Dipper carefully picked up a piece, holding it at both ends.

He placed his jaws on it carefully and… and it tasted good…real good! He plopped himself down on the floor and chewed the meat off the bone enthusiastically.

He felt his excitement build up, probably his instincts kicking in again, and not bad ones this time.

 

                 “Grunkle Stan? You passed out?” she piped as she entered the living room; the TV was luminous in the dark, revealing the sleeping Grunkle on the sofa; snoring loudly. He had empty cans of Pitt Colas scattered around his feet; one had spilled out onto the carpet, leaving it sticky and had crumbs glued to it. A bag of chips was lying on the right arm of his chair; the chips had fallen from the bag onto the T-Rex skull, where another Pitt Cola sat upon; along with some gummies and other candy.

Guess Stan was on a sugar rush, Mabel thought.

“Hey Grunkle Staaaaaan…”She placed her hands on his right arm, her face curious.

“Grunkle Stan?” She shook his arm; nothing, not even a twitch from him.

Mabel slipped her bag’s strap off of her and climbed into his lap, knocking over the chips and a single can of Pitt. She beamed at him, her cheeks puffing up.

She patted his rough cheeks with both hands and his head just slumped to his left.

She snickered at this and leaned towards his ear.

“Yelling!”

No reaction, Grunkle Stan was sleeping like a rock and nothing was going to wake the stubborn guy up; unless she shoved a piece of jerky in his mouth or drench him in cold water. Mabel sighed and patted his forehead, laughing quietly to herself.

“Ok Grunkle Stan, night for now!”

She removed his fez and placed it on his nose; letting go of it, it hung perfectly onto his nose like a coat rack. His snoring sounded slightly muffled but other than that, his sleep continued undisturbed. Mabel admired her decorating, her head tilting sweetly on her right shoulder.

Her attention drew away when she heard what sounded like clanking cans. Mabel turned her head to the floor to find a pink friend searching for any remaining tasty goodies.

“Waddles!” Mabel cried joyfully, she slid down from Stan’s lap and plopped herself down to the floor happily.

“How’s my favorite pig doing?”

The pig stuck his head inside the bag of chips, munching on the crunchy treats. He tried backing out of the bag but it clung onto him; wandering around in circles blindly and oinking with his plastic helmet.

Mabel giggled and pulled the pig closer, removing the bag from his head and brushing off the crumbs.  Waddles licked her fingers.

“Are you keeping Stan company or are you stealing his tasty snacks?”

The pig let out a single oink and sniffed her left sleeve; she moved his head back to her face carefully.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” She whispered, rubbing her nose against his wet pig nose, patting him.

Waddles turned his attention to the large duffel bag and inspected it with his nose; it was covered in all sorts of strange and familiar smells, mostly Mabel’s and the young wolf’s scent.

“You like what you smell? We found a bunch of cool stuff! I managed to find a manotaur horn and a bit of its beard hair; a unicorn horn, fairy dust and non-sleeping inducing fairy dust and a bunch of other weird cool stuff! Dipper found buried fairy wings and dragon scales, you should had seen him; he digs like a puppy hehe. We found the unicorn horn laying on the ground by chance…the manotaur horn was given to us by one…when he…um…yanked it off his head, he said it will grow back. Still creepy though…”

He placed his front hooves on it and began chewing on the strap.

“Sorry cutie, I didn’t get anything for you, we’re going to order pizza, so I hope you’re not full!” She rubbed his head. “I gotta get Dipper fixed up and clean first, he got pretty hurt and his leg is seriously cut up; poor guy can hardly walk.” Mabel frowned then shook her head. “He’ll be fine though, he just needs rest and a lot of petting.” she reached for the duffel bag, grasping its strap, sliding it closer to her. Waddles clung to the bag, still gnawing on the apparently appetizing strap. He made an attempt to start a game of tug-of-war, not a good attempt however; he was rather gently dragged across the carpet as he weakly yanked at the strap, his hooves scrambling as he was pulled.

She snickered and crawled over to the pig, hugging him tight.

“You silly, you’re gonna have to wait for playing until I’m finished with my fluffy patient and some other things, can you do that for mama?" she cooed.

Waddles responded with a few grunts.

Mabel excitedly jumped to her feet and clasped her hands together, showing her bright smile.

“That’s great, thanks little man!” Mabel excitedly snatched up the duffel bag with both arms and headed off to the stairs. “Keep wolf Dipper and Grunkle Stan company will you?” she shouted as she left the room.

Waddles kept his focus on Mabel until she disappeared from sight; he gazed at the stairs for a short time, waiting for Mabel’s return before deciding to look for something else of interest, that thing of interest being food again. He brushed past Stan’s legs and decided to feast on the remaining spilled chips; Stan slightly shifted in his seat, muttering incoherently in his unconscious state.

 

                 He tore into his fourth rib, stripping a large chunk of meat off in one tear easily, chewing it up messily in a feral manner though he refused to eat any remains that had fallen to the floor, that’s just gross. He quickly moved on to the next, much larger rib and sank his teeth into it without hesitation.

His adrenaline kept building as he ate…and that was starting to worry him. Why? What was causing this intense feeling? The other meat products never excited him in wolf form this much before. Maybe it was the way he was eating? He was eating in a more animal like fashion.

That didn’t make sense, he’s done it like this before so why was it causing this reaction now? Was his condition getting worse or was the chewing on the bone part triggering his instincts?

While lost in his thoughts, Dipper gnawed on the bare bone with increasing anxiety; being so used to his nervous tic, he was oblivious to this. He soon bit down too hard and a loud snap disturbed the quiet room; startling him and he dropped the bone from his mouth as he jumped to four legs, his back leg did not hinder him this time.

Dipper wiped his mouth and looked down in front of him with a shocked expression; he was still chewing on that? He really wasn’t aware of what was going on around him right now was he; he swore there was still beef on it while gnawing. He must be pretty stressed not to notice that.

He examined the rib bone as he sniffed it; cracks had formed in the middle of it. He actually did break it with those jaws of his; at least it wasn’t his teeth that cracked but still…that’s terrifying. His ears lay back against his head.

Feeling disturbed, Dipper pushed the bone away with his right paw; keeping his worrying eyes on it as he thought to himself. Something did not feel right; he could sense it, but he wasn’t sure if it was just him being paranoid again or that something was actually wrong. He should probably relax by keeping his mind on other things, just keep calm and focused and everything will be fine.

He lowered his head steadily back down to the ribs with his eyes on the bone and then went back to feasting, though at a much slower and uneasy pace.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

                Waddles poked his head in the kitchen and looked around the area curiously; he could sense something interesting was happening and he wanted to investigate it, and luckily there might be more snacks for him. He had already finished up the remaining chips and spent the next few minutes licking spilled soda from the carpet; also he was feeling kind of lonely, and the old man wasn’t very active at the moment.

He raised his head as he spotted a familiar figure, his human-wolf friend. Deciding to stay around him and feeling content at sight of Dipper, he darted over to the wolf pup.

 

                Dipper’s ears perked as he heard something trot quickly across the floor behind him; the fur stood up on his back and his body grew tense. He quickly whirled around in surprise, gritting his teeth anxiously as his lips rose a little.

He was met with an oink.

“Waddles?” his eyes were filled with bewilderment, his tail clinging to his back leg in embarrassment. He sighed and lowered his head a little; he gave the pig a tired look mixed with slight irritation.

Waddles showed no reaction to this and sniffed the wolf’s snout up close.

“Man, I’m getting spooked by a pig now…I really need to chill.” He placed his right hand on his head. “First stressing about the way I’m eating, then the bone breaking and now this? I need to lie down…” he spoke to himself in a low worried tone.

He turned to grab one more rib, keeping it within his mouth as he lied down carefully, his eyes looked off to his left, thinking.

“Things are going to be fine.” he muttered.

Waddles got closer and sniffed Dipper’s face, his nose going all over it. Dipper tried moving his head away, his eyes blinking when the pig’s snout went over them, his right ear flicked in irritation. Waddles began to lick the werewolf’s cheeks, probably trying to get the barbecue sauce that was stuck on his fur. He removed the rib from his jaws and gently pushed Waddles away.

“You want this? Its meat, you’re not going to like it…unless you’re just interested in the sauce it’s covered in.”

The pig licked the sauce that had fallen to the floor around Dipper.

“There’s more sauce on the plate if you want.” Dipper gave him an amused smile. Waddles walked back over to Dipper and licked his snout again.

“You still don’t have anything to say to me, huh?”

Dipper held still as the pig ran his nose over him again; he couldn’t help but smirk at Waddles’ curiosity.

His wet pig nose went over to his ears, flicking uncontrollably; annoying since he had no control over those reflexes. He shook his head in a canine way.

Then he felt his ear being squeezed and tugged at as Waddles bit down.

“Ow, stop, I’m not in the mood to play rough.” He gave him a warning glare as he shoved the pig.

Waddles paid no attention and went right back to munching on his sensitive ear, his front hooves on top of his head, nearly sliding into Dipper’s eyes. Dipper’s lips began to curl and a low growl was building in his throat by instinct.

“Waddles stop…” his tone sounded…afraid. Overwhelming stress was building up inside him, he did not feel comfortable with Waddles nearby right now knowing how he cracked that bone; he pushed him away once again.

“I need to relax, I can’t play; my leg is torn up.” His worried voice went against his angered expression. “Just stop, please…something doesn’t feel right about me.” 

Thankfully, Waddles ceased and decided to look around again.

Dipper closed his eyes in relief, maybe he does understand; he curled up tighter in his spot as he let out a deep breath.

He began thinking of other things but his thoughts were interrupted as a sharp pain went through him.

His leg was beginning to ache again; it grew cold as something pressed against his tender leg, it hurt, it really hurt. Not only that, but something was continuously scraping against it, and it was starting to get raw. His eyes snapped open and he turned to get a look at his leg; Waddles was inspecting it and pawing at it with his hooves rapidly.

Dipper cringed and held his breath, his fangs baring in distress; Waddles was probably just curious but…

“Waddles don’t…”

He continued investigating the wound.

“Stop doing that…” he raised his voice “Knock it off, that hurts!”

He began to growl loudly; he crawled away from the pig, glaring at him in annoyance.

“Go find Mabel, I told you I can’t-”

As he turned his head away, Waddles sniffed below the cut and, perhaps in another attempt to play with him or that he was hungry, clamped down on the wolf’s leg.

The pain was too much for him, his wound now rubbed raw and his healing interrupted.

 

                What happened next was something Dipper did not see coming, it just…happened without warning. It escalated so fast that he didn’t realize what was happening for those next few seconds…and even then he was caught off guard so badly that he was too horrified to accept what was happening.

Dipper threw himself at Waddles, jaws wide open.

 

                A loud squeal traveled throughout the shack; Mabel’s body froze in shock and she looked around confused, setting down the med kit.

“Waddles?” she tried to listen closely as she tried to register what was happening. 

She had a bad feeling form in the pit of her stomach.

 

                Waddles scrambled away from the wolf, terrified; the wolf had given him a nasty bite to his back and was immensely sore, he was terribly confused why the young wolf had suddenly turned on him. It happened so fast, Waddles had no time to react until the wolf had pounced on him and sank his fangs into his skin. Waddles escape from the werewolf’s hold was only pure luck as all he could do was wiggle his way out.

He ran for the exit but the snarling beast jumped in front of him and blocked his way.

Waddles quickly turned around; Dipper lunged and his claws barely sank into the sides of the pig, escaping the werewolf’s grasp, but not without some small scratches.

Waddles fled under the table, knocking over a chair that fell in Dipper’s way. The werewolf recoiled before the chair could hit him, snarling loudly in frustration. The wolf attempted to climb over the fallen chair, but with his anger and bloodlust at its highest, the beast took its rage out on the chair. He tore off its head with his powerful jaws and snapped off one of its legs with his right arm; destroying the chair within mere seconds. He threw it aside and dived at Waddles swiftly; the chair banged against other assortments in the kitchen. The wolf and pig zig zagged under the table and the rest of the chairs as the savage beast kept cutting off Waddles’ means of escape at every turn.

Waddles was starting to slow as the swift werewolf was wearing him out, and the beast was showing no signs of exhaustion or mercy.

The werewolf Dipper was extremely flexible and clever while hunting but also clumsy, it wasn’t his own doing, his body was over taken by some other force, and this wasn’t the first time it’s happened. As soon as he bit into the pig, he felt an extreme overwhelming hunger, all that meat that had filled his belly suddenly seemed to vanish within seconds, and his tired body was filled with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he felt no pain from his injuries now. Only a few things were on the werewolf’s mind now, rage, hunger and hatred, just like the first night. He had to hurt something to satisfy his needs. But it wasn’t his needs, it was the beasts; and he was not going to give up easily.

Dipper had no choice in any of this.

The wolf made a quick sharp turn and consequently slipped to the ground; but Waddles was only a few inches from his mouth…his leg just close enough to clamp on. He needed to bite onto him quick, just one bite and…

The werewolf, without hesitation leapt from the floor and managed to bite down on the helpless pig’s back leg.

 

                Another pained squeal reached Mabel’s ears, her eyes grew wide; her heart skipped a beat and panic set in. What was going on downstairs and who was hurting her poor sweet baby?

She didn’t dwell on it any longer; she darted out of the bedroom.

“Waddles hold on, I’m coming!”

…At least she would have if she hadn’t forgotten the bag was right near the entrance and tripped over it; landing face first on the door. Mabel groaned; that was going to feel sore for a while.

 

                The wolf kept his jaws tight on the pig’s leg as he carefully got up, beginning to drag Waddles across the floor.

Dipper, the real Dipper, was horrified of his actions beyond belief; his blood running cold as he was forced to witness his savagery.

‘No, no don’t this! S-Stop! Leave him alone! This isn’t me! Oh gosh Waddles I’m so sorry!’

Why, why was he doing this? What caused him to lose control so suddenly?

‘Why is this so hard, it wasn’t this difficult last time.’

And why couldn’t he stop? No matter how much he tried forcing himself to regain control, he just couldn’t grasp it. And it was so difficult to the point it felt impossible; he refused to give up, he can’t let himself cause harm to others, he needed to stop his vicious attack in any form possible; trapping him, ramming himself against the wall or locking him somewhere, just anything to get him to stop. Please, someone, just stop his rampage…

‘Stop please, you have to stop! Grunkle Stan, Mabel, where are you guys? I can’t do this alone, what’s taking you so long? If you guys don’t do something quick I might…Oh man I don’t even want to think what I might do.’

He wanted to scream; begging so desperately in his mind to stop. He wanted to cry so badly and he wanted to be heard, not even a tear escaped from his eyes, and that was telling how little control he had over his actions.

The beast let go of the pig’s leg, he finally got the pig under him, trapping him under his weight as he kept his strong front paws on Waddles.

‘Am…Am I stuck like this? Is my curse actually getting worse…no, I can’t let that happen, I’m not going to let this happen!’

He found himself gaining some restraint, as he kept holding himself back from biting down on Waddles again, his limbs shivering.

‘Waddles get out of here while you can. I don’t know how long I can hold it back. Come on Dipper you can still do this, just relax.’

But he found himself slipping again; his jaws were slowly opening as his curse struggled against Dipper’s will.

‘NO DON’T!’

 

                Mabel rushed downstairs, having regained feeling in her legs (and face); her heart was racing. She dashed to the kitchen and…she felt herself go numb when she reached the entrance. She wished the horrid sight was just some part of a nightmare.

Dipper had the terrified and badly injured looking Waddles pinned to the floor; the poor pig was looking up into her werewolf brother eyes in a pleading fashion, at least from Mabel’s perspective. Dipper’s jaws were wide open, though he appeared to be struggling to actually attack the pig.

“DIPPER NO!” she screamed.

Acting fast, she ran over to the hesitating werewolf and dove into him with a powerful tackle…to little effect. All it did was surprise the wolf; he made a loud snarl and spun around to face her, freeing Waddles.

“RUN WADDLES!” she cried.

The pig fled from the kitchen squealing in terror, she swore she caught a glimpse of him looking back in worry.

Mabel lifted herself up and she was met with the most enraged and hateful eyes looking down on her. Dipper’s eyes were a blank yellow, soulless…just like the last time he lost control.

Her blood ran cold, her eyes grew wide and her mouth slightly opened, time seemed to stand still for her.

“D-Dipper?”

The werewolf lunged at her; she pushed herself off the ground and threw herself backwards to avoid his snapping jaws, he was only mere inches away from biting her nose off. She crawled away backwards from him awkwardly on the floor as she kept her eyes on the beast.

“Wait wait wait, It’s me bro!”

He lunged at her again; she kicked him across the jaw in self-defense, the wolf let out a surprised pained yelp.

“This isn’t you Dip, just calm down, please!”

The beast glared at her, even angrier than before, he seemed to be getting more hostile…

She kicked him in the throat as he tried attacking her again; she picked up Dipper’s food plate beside her.

“I’m sorry bro, but it’s for your own good!” She scrambled up backwards to stand.

The wolf leapt at her again, she threw the plate at him, it shattered against his face; he cried out in pain and clawed at his face.

 Mabel’s breathing was shallow and exhausted.

“Dipper please, I don’t want you like this and I know you don’t either, we don’t want to hurt each other. Come on Dip, I want the real you again, the brother who’s always paranoid…the one who wants to protect me…You stopped yourself before, this should be easy! Please don’t…”

Without warning, he charged at her with incredible speed.

She had little time to react; her vision was met with wide opened jaws.

She tried to move out of the way; shielding herself with her arm.

A burning, painful sensation took over her.

He was fast, he was merciless.


	2. Broken Promises Part 2

                A piercing scream reached Stan’s ears; he jolted in his seat as he woke up suddenly. Instinctively grabbing his chest as his eyes snapped open; spooked him so bad it nearly gave him a heart attack. He shook his drowsy head, breathing heavily as his not so good vision adjusted.

His nose felt strange…what the, why is his fez on his nose? He removed it in puzzlement and placed it back on his head.

He looked around the room confused, his senses coming back slowly and his thoughts collecting. It was already dark out…the heck, how long was he out for?

He could hear crashing nearby…

“Kids?” Are they back already? Why didn’t the little nerds bother to wake him up?

Another scream and frightened crying rang throughout the room; fully conscious and aware now, he recognized the voice.

“Mabel? Mabel what’s going on?” he pushed himself up from his seat quickly, hurting his back, not that it mattered right now but it was doing all it could to slow him down, he grumbled in frustration. His bad back isn’t going to tell him what to do; not with Mabel screaming like that.

Mabel sounded like she was in pain, what was Dipper doing? Knowing the kid, he would be protecting her.

“Hang in there kid, Dipper what the heck are ya doing? Get your furry butt over there and help her!”

Mabel was basically screaming bloody murder, and there was growling…oh dang it did one of those wolf-men finally show itself? Well then that dumb mutt has another thing coming for messing with his family.

“Get away from them or I’m going to knock the fleas out of ya you mangy jer-”

He bursted into the kitchen angrily, his anger turned to horror.

He’s still sleeping right? There’s no way what he was seeing was real.

 

                Mabel was struggling and kicking at the savage werewolf, its jaws on her right arm firmly, tugging at it. Mabel punched the wolf repeatedly in the face, she kept kicking it in the chest as well hoping it would let go. Her eyes were teary and fearful, crying out louder as it started to drag her by the arm.

“STOP, LET GO, IT’S ME!”

The werewolf shook its head and pulled on it harder.

That werewolf appearing to be his great nephew.

 

                Stan snapped out of his shock after another pained cry came from Mabel; he rushed to her aid.

“Dipper, knock it off!”

Dipper glared at his Great Uncle…the kid’s eyes, they were completely blank yellow and they looked really creepy as they seem to stare right through him, was he possessed or something?

Didn’t look like he was going to listen, he had to act quick, he kicked the werewolf in the ribs. The beast yelped and finally let go of his sister, stunned as the air was knocked out of him.

Stan didn’t waste any time, Dipper wasn’t safe to keep around right now; he grabbed the heavy werewolf, wrapping his hand around his muzzle tightly to keep the pup from biting anything else. Stan looked around stressfully, now what? Can’t throw him outside, Dipper might bring attention, and not the good kind; and who knows what else damage he’ll cause.

Better lock him up, but where? Well Ford’s room isn’t currently in use so that sounded like a good place, he couldn’t think on the decision any longer as the wolf boy wildly flailed around to escape him.

Stan was kicked and clawed at as the werewolf angrily snarled; he tried to yank his snout out from his Grunkle’s grasp, but Stan responded by squeezing his snout tighter.

Stan looked stunned by this behavior, this was nothing like Dipper; normally he would be growling, but there was whimpering and less scratching involved.

And those eyes, they were getting disturbing the more he stared straight into them, almost soulless; he was definitely nothing like himself.

“Kid it’s us; don’t you recognize your own family?” sounding exasperated. 

The werewolf only growled and thrashed about to escape from Stan’s hold, but to no avail; Stan cringed at his monstrous behavior, guess that’s a no.

 

                As soon as he reached the bedroom, Stan kicked open the door to and tossed the wolf Dipper far inside Ford’s room. The werewolf tumbled across the floor; however, he wasted no time to spring back up on all fours while rolling and faced Grunkle Stan with an enraged expression.

Stan was stunned by this; that kid just won’t give up!

The wolf kid charged incredibly fast towards Stan with open jaws.

“Whoa geez!”

He slammed the door; he felt the werewolf ram itself against it with great force as Stan held it shut by the knob, he never realized how strong that small sized wolf could be. He could hear him claw and bang on the door, even attempting to use the handle. He could hear the wood splitting, splinters flew from it, and he was doing everything he could to break it down.

Can’t stay here forever, Stan thought; he has the room key or something on him right? He rummaged through his pockets as he tried to hold the door shut; Dipper kept trying to pry it open and that was making things much more difficult right now. He felt something and pulled it out…a sand-pop from earlier?

“You gotta be kidding me…”

Guess he’s gonna have to get creative. He bit down on the end of the pops stick and bent it at an angle. He stuck the bent pop stick in the keyhole as he tried holding the door shut.

“I must be going nuts…There’s no way this is gonna-”

There was a “click”; did he actually?

He let go of the handle anxiously; the door stayed in place as Dipper banged on it; somehow, it’s locked now.

“It worked?”

Not sure how he did it but it did the job.

He took a step back from the door, the werewolf continued to bang on it; might be awhile till he snaps out of it.

“You’re not leaving till you stop mauling everything, ok kid?”

He kept snarling; Stan grimaced as he began to turn away, feeling uneasy about Dipper’s state.

 

                “Mabel? Mabel you’re not that hurt are ya?” he shouted in distraught as he reentered the kitchen.

Mabel, how bad was she? That girl better not be too injured, how long was that going on for? Dipper had bitten her arm, but did he actually break the skin through her thick sweater? He hoped not, if Dipper did then things are going to go even more downhill from here.

Mabel turned her head to face him when he entered, shaking and breathing shallowly, in deep shock over what happened, her eyes watery.

Getting attacked by her own twin brother brutally like that, he just wanted to comfort the poor girl.

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel murmured.

“Yeah I’m here…” he kneeled down to her, giving her a worried look. “How’s your arm?”

“I-I-I haven’t checked, it hurts when I try rolling up the sleeve…I’m actually more afraid to see how bad it is, I don’t want to believe what he did…It’s not him at all.”

“Same here, but we have to see the damage, ok hold your breath…”

Mabel did so.

Stan quickly and rather roughly pushed up her right sleeve. Mabel winced as her arm stung.

Stan’s eyes grew wide; Mabel let out a small gasp with a whimper.

Her arm was badly bitten up, bleeding; all because of Dipper.

“…Oh geez…this is really looking bad.”

Mabel turned her gaze to Stan’s eyes, she laughed nervously.

“Don’t panic, I-it’s not that bad, maybe my sweater softened the blow and prevented him from infecting me…right?”

Stan kept his eyes on her awful looking wound, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I wanna believe ya, but I’m not liking the way that bite looks.”

“I can get rid of those doubts, look!” She tried wiping her bite with her left arm’s sleeve. “See it’s…” but her discovery only confirmed the worst, her puncture wounds were already closed up by scabs despite the bite still appearing all red and inflamed.  

“…already healing…” she trailed off.

A look of anxiety formed on her face.

“No…no…” she murmured “Its fine, we’re g-going to be f-fine…” her voice faltering as she wrapped her arms around herself, hugging. Her body shivered, Mabel stared at her healing bite wound despairingly, her breathing becoming shallow.

She had difficulty accepting what had unfolded tonight.

“Hey sweetie…Grunkle Stan’s still here for you; I’m not going to throw you out in the woods!” He patted her.

She remained silent.

“You’re gonna be ok, I’ll make sure of that…We’ll keep you safe.” He gave her a comforting smile.

She only sighed in response, appearing deep in thought.

Stan frowned and looked off to his side for a moment.

“Is this about Dipper? If you’re worried about your brother, I have him in Ford’s room to cool off but I don’t know how long that’s gonna take.”

It was quiet for a brief second; Mabel raised her head, worried.

“…He’s fine right? You didn’t hurt him?” She asked quietly, staring into his old eyes; her own was inquisitive.

“Eh, not too bad if you consider the fact that I kicked him earlier and threw him in the room.”

“Nah that’s fine, I had to kick him off of me earlier and threw a plate at his face in defense.”

“Oh you did huh, did you get him good?” Stan grinned in amusement.

Mabel’s eyes looked off to her side; a small whimper came from her, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them to reveal that they were welling up with tears. Heaving in stress; she bit her lip, looking at Stan again then tuning them away from him, she buried her face in her arms, huddling into a ball; a quiet sob escaped her.

Stan flinched; his grin faded. Ah great, he said something stupid didn’t he?

“Hey hey hey, I’m not taking joy in your brother’s pain, I was just asking.”

No response.

“Aw don’t be like that, I didn’t mean to offend ya.” His expression and tone sympathetic, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I know, it’s ok…it’s something else…”

“Can you tell me?”

Mabel lifted her head.

“Grunkle Stan…I want to say…"

The girl dived into his arms, hugging him tightly as she buried her face into his chest; Stan looked down at his niece, a bit startled.

She blurted out heartbrokenly.

“H-H-he didn’t mean to…” she choked up “I know he would never do this on purpose even with his instincts, please, it’s not his fault; he didn’t want this. It’s his curse; it makes him act like this sometimes. Grunkle Stan you have to believe me; I know he’s not getting worse; he just needs more help and understanding…He won’t do it again!”

Tears began to flow from Mabel’s eyes, dripping onto Stan’s suit.

“Hey…Calm down sweetie.” he muttered softly.

Stan rose up, holding Mabel in his arms safely as he kept her close.

“Mabel its fine, I get it.”

He hugged her tightly; Mabel sniffled and gripped Stan’s suit.

“It’s ok; I know Dipper didn’t mean to do any of that. He’s too soft for that, in personality, not just psychically I mean.”

Grunkle Stan stroked her hair calmingly and leaned his head into hers; she was just that badly shaken by the whole thing. Couldn’t blame her for feeling bad for Dipper despite ruthlessly tearing up her arm; he still felt angry for what he did; but the kid was right. It wasn’t completely his fault; though he wished the kid stopped himself before he did the damage. Mabel should have kicked him much harder to get sense into him sooner.

He hoped Dipper would return to his normal weird self soon.

He swayed unconsciously as Mabel sobbed in his arms; Mabel did not want to let go and neither did Stan; he pressed her against himself tightly once again and held her head. He really did not know what else to say.

After a good minute, Stan moved her away and looked into her eyes with a small smile.

“Want your bite cleaned up at least? Don’t think your wolf brother is gonna be back to normal until he wears himself out…if that’s how it works…is that how it works?”

“I don’t know…but it might work, I hope it does…and yeah I’d like that Grunkle Stan.”

Stan chuckled “Yeah I knew…”

 

                Grunkle Stan carried her upstairs carefully; Mabel’s crying was starting to go quiet, she was rubbing her face in his suit so much she was creating a large wet stain; meh he could care less.

Stan stumbled as he entered the room, nearly tripping. Some large bag, actually the bag he saw with the kids earlier, was on the floor, seemed large and heavy from what he noticed.

“Sorry Grunkle Stan!” Mabel apologized.

“Yeah, fine…” He paused at the sight of Mabel’s bed. “Oh geez…he got the pig too?”

Mabel lifted her head from his chest.

“H-He’s here? Let me see him!”

“He’s pretty messed up…”

Stan set her down on her bed, Waddles was curled up on her pillow; shivering in fright.

“Waddles, you made it!” She crawled over to him.

Seeing her pig for the first time since he escaped the savage Dipper, she could finally get a closer look at his injuries. His back was bitten up and one of his back legs was cut up as well. Mabel pulled Waddles closer to her, relieved. He let out a small grunt.

“It’s ok little man, Mabel’s alright.” She scratched his head lovingly. “I know Dipper didn’t want to snack on you.”

Stan rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

“Dipper really did a number on you two…”

“Grunkle Stan, we need to fix up Waddles too.”

“Huh? I don’t know but I can patch him good without taking him to some cheapskate vet, you’ve seen how much those guys ask for?”

She just stared at him without a word.

“What, I said I’ll clean him up. He’s not that bad; he’s still moving isn’t he? Anyway I’m cleaning you up first.”

“The med kits’ over there…” She pointed over to Dipper’s bed.

“You were prepared for something like this?” He seemed surprised they were already out.

“It was for Dipper originally…”

Stan turned to her with big eyes, raising his eyebrows.

“You saw that cut on his leg right?” she asked.

“…Yeah, I noticed a mark on him but didn’t really think about it, did he get that before or after he attacked you?”

“Before; he got hurt out in the woods.”

“Seems like everyone’s getting torn up tonight.” Stan cringed “What set that kid off anyway? Curse or not, it’s just weird he suddenly goes nuts for no reason.”

Stan turned back to the kit, grumbling. He dug around the kit while mentioning how she “needs water” before trailing off into nothing.

Mabel inhaled deeply and wiped her nose; her tears were still streaking down her cheeks but now at a slower pace; petting Waddles in an attempt to comfort herself. She looked around musing; now what, she was infected and becoming a werewolf. That means she’ll go through the same painful transformations like Dipper’s, and that’s something she’s not looking forward to; she hopes Grunkle Stan will comfort her during her first one, she rather be hugged through the whole thing, and she didn’t want to hurt anyone.

She better prepare for tomorrow night.

Well maybe being a werewolf won’t be so bad; she can get petting, belly rubs and can snuggle with anyone without them complaining, she’ll be too irresistibly cute. She could roll around in her stuffed animals and in her sweaters; she’ll look super adorable in her sweaters as a wolf. She could start new activities as one, maybe even finally be able to talk to Waddles; despite Dipper saying that Waddles and Gompers are the only animals that haven’t said a thing while he was a wolf.

Dipper…oh gosh Dipper, how’s Dipper going to react to all of this? Considering how he reacted last time certainly not good, he was aware of what he did out of control. He’s going to beat himself up for this and probably treat himself like a monster for sure now…she was afraid what else he’ll do to punish himself.

She wanted to comfort him once he returned…somehow. She eyed the window sadly; the dark neon blue flower seemed more vibrant by it, such a pretty thing too, looks like it fully bloomed now.

Her eyes lit up with realization.

“It bloomed?”

Wait, the blue flower…the blue flower bloomed! It can help him now! If he eats it, he won’t lose control anymore…That would at least ease his worries until he’s cured hopefully!

“Alright kid, I think I got it, not sure why it took that long for a simple task, but I got everything set…might have helped if I turned the lights on.”

Stan grabbed a nearby water bottle lying on the bed.

“Gotta wash off that mess on your arm first.”

“Um Grunkle Stan…I should bring up something.”

“Hold that thought.”

Stan drenched her wounded arm in water; she grimaced as she closed her eyes, biting her lip. Whatever, she’s not going to hold that thought. No excuses.

She shook her head and her eyes snapped open, her expression grave as she gritted her teeth; almost glaring right through her Grunkle.

“N-No, it’s something important, the flower, I just remembered, Dipper needs that flower, it can help him!”

Stan stared blankly.

“I don’t follow…”

“We found that flower just in case he lost control again, if we give it to him, he’ll…!” Mabel felt herself struggling to breathe, suddenly she found herself having a shortness of breath, among other things. Like just in an instant, her body just became incredibly weak.

Her focus drifted off, her head throbbing. Her face went pale, expressionless. She became incredibly still, her vision blurring; her body burning from heat.

Stan grew concerned, Mabel just seemed to have…turned off; he was getting an unsettling vibe from this, she looked like an empty husk!

“Mabel? Mabel what are you pausing for? If it’s for a dramatic effect, it’s not helping!”

“Don’t feel good…” her voice lowering, sounding weak, her eyes became quite tired looking.

“What, what do ya mean by that, your arm hurting again or ya feeling sick?”

She mouthed something to him but he couldn’t make it out, Stan could feel her going limp.

“Like really weird, I feel pretty tired and hot and…”she fell back before she could finish; passed out.

Stan felt himself go stiff at that moment; he waited briefly for her to wake up.

A horrible feeling builds up in his gut, her body was completely motionless.

“Mabel...Mabel? Come on kid, don’t faint on me! This better be some sick joke!” Stan voice grew louder and distressed.

He shook Mabel roughly; neither a word nor reaction came from her. Her body was limp, almost lifeless, feeling her head; he could tell she was strangely warm.

“Mabel, stay with me! Get up!”

Stan sat on the bed and began to cradle her, he tried pouring water on her face but she remained still. He could feel her heart was still beating and she was still breathing, although weakly; what’s going on? She was only bitten on the arm and she can’t get sick from it already; she’s not dying is she? He rubbed Mabel’s back rapidly, hoping to get at least some reaction from her.

He held her tightly, rocking.

 

                “Mabel, can you even hear me? Just hang in there; I still got you!”

 The wolf locked away within Ford’s room ears perked, finally hearing the stressed voice of his great uncle over his snarling and roaring. He was unable to make anything out until now, doubly so as he was also focusing on regaining control of his body.

The werewolf became quiet, his teeth still showing but only slightly now.

“Mabel, come on.”

The beast’s aggression died down, the wrinkles faded from his snout; Dipper was no longer struggling against the curse. Now he was listening intently; trying to understand what was happening.

“You’re still breathing, I know you’re at least alive, this is just a real bad time to pass out.”

Dipper’s ears lowered; the fur on his back relaxed.

“Is this part of the werewolf infection or you just worn out? Whatever it is, you’re a fighter and you can survive this…”

A concerned whine came from the wolf…he approached the door slowly, his blank empty eyes attempting to convey emotion; his nose twitching.

“Ok…um I’ll keep you in bed for the rest of the night…better grab more water, don’t worry I’ll still patch you and the pig up…just great Stan, you’re alone with an injured niece and a blood thirsty nephew. Look if you can hear me Mabel, I want you to not worry about your brother so much. He’ll be fine after calming down; he’s safe alright?”

Stan sighed.

Dipper felt his tense muscles loosen, his eyes starting to dim.

“Still can’t believe Dipper actually hurt you that bad…but you forgive him don’t you? Sure hope he doesn’t do anything worse. If he doesn’t go back to himself after this…then I don’t know what to do with him, probably keep him contained till Stanford gets back. Hope it doesn’t turn out that way…I’m talking to myself too much, but you two are gonna be ok.”

It was quiet for a moment, then…

“You, you watch Mabel, you fine with that pig?”

Dipper heard a small weak oink; then footsteps as Stan left the room.

 

                He stayed where he was, trembling, silent for the next few seconds, his body going cold, he let out a whine. The vicious thoughts vanished from his mind quickly as they came.

“M-Mabel…Grunkle Stan?” His eyes returned to normal, he was finally back…but he wished it happened sooner.

“Mabel?”

His eyes widening, the wolf shook his head and took a few steps back from the door. He dropped to the floor, crawling backwards as he looked around the room hysterically, his breathing panicky.

“No no…”

He looked at his hands and slammed them to the floor, his claws digging into the wood; he pointed his head down. His mind drew a blank, his body numb; it was a strange feeling, like an out of body experience. Soon the numbness was replaced by pain forming in his chest, a ball of air formed in his throat; not exactly choking but his throat was burning sore from it. He exhaled forcefully, releasing pained groans. His muscles tensing up, he was shrinking into himself.

Overwhelmed; that’s what he was feeling and his large eyes revealed much more. Stress, grief, agony, guilt, fear…What has he done?

Everything until now, everything starting with his attack on the pig; was his fault. He contributed to all the misery tonight.

He had injured Waddles, attempted to turn on his Grunkle, and he had bitten Mabel, he had done the one thing he never wanted to happen.

_He had cursed her, he actually bit her._

And he failed to stop himself in time, he tried everything he could, he swore he did! He kept resisting and tried forcing himself to go in another direction but nothing worked! He just could not regain it in time and now the worst has happened…and it could have been much worse had Stan not intervened.

He can’t forget the exact moment it happened, the look on his sister’s face…there was betrayal in her eyes, frightened as he sank his fangs into her. Mabel wholeheartedly trusted him and he still turned on her! He hurt the one trying to help him.

He was so mortified when it happened, his thought process just stopped right there. Time felt like it slowed down at that very moment and he was so paralyzed with shock at what he had done, he didn’t want to believe what he did, how could he let this happen?

Dipper turned and moved to the long couch, he placed his head against the edge of the seat, he squeezed his eyes shut.

He couldn’t even protect his sister from himself, he had stopped himself before, and yet he couldn’t this time around.

He couldn’t keep her safe.

The wolf emitted a quiet sob.

He let out a frustrated scream, punching the floor.

“Mabel…Mabel!” his voice cracked.

“I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean…I didn’t want to!”

He knew she could not respond as of now, but he wanted to apologize so badly to her, and even then he knew it wasn’t enough.

The damage had been done.

Mabel will forgive him, no question knowing her, but he flat out refused to forgive himself. She may have paid the price by caring for a werewolf. But ultimately, he knew it was his entire fault, Mabel was only caring and looking out for him, she knew he was capable of hurting her but he was also her brother. None of this was her fault, she was only helping him; he needed every bit of it and he was grateful for it.

No, he should have known better, he knew his curse better than anyone else, he allowed Mabel to get close, she was stubborn but she was only doing it for his sake. He got too careless, he betrayed her trust.

He’s such an idiot.

He’s the reason why she’s in pain.               

No doubt the curse was taking its hold on her right now; and that won’t be the worst of it. She was going to experience everything he’s been through, every bit of it.

It didn’t matter if she forgives him. He would never forgive himself, he hated, no…the word “hate” felt weak to what he really feels; he loathed himself.

“She was only trying to help me, and I couldn’t stop myself!” His furry cheeks became damp from the forming tears.

Maybe he was getting worse, maybe he really was turning dangerous over time.

“Mabel I’m so sorry…I tried to stop, but I couldn’t no matter what I did!”

He opened his eyes slowly, grief stricken.

“I can’t…I’m not safe…no one’s safe around me…”he raised his voice. “I can’t stay around anyone!”

He wept quietly.

“It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks…I-I really am I becoming a monster…I’m sorry Mabel.”

His crying grew louder; he felt so much heartache, self-loathing and remorse.

He was overwhelmed by his emotions; this was too much to bear, he didn’t know what else to do, and there was nothing he could do right now.

Attempting to leave the room felt risky, if he leaves, he might lose control and hurt her again.

He heaved and lifted his head from the seat’s edge, gritting his teeth. A whine escaped his teeth, his crying morphing into anguished wolf grunts. He felt that instinctual urge, only one instinct gave him an urge to act on it and it was one he was very familiar with.

He pointed his head towards the ceiling; the sensation was building up inside him, and he opened his jaws, howling mournfully.

 

                Stan looked over his shoulder, his eyebrows rising as the chilling sound caught his attention. He had just returned to Mabel’s side with an unopened water bottle; treating her scratches and healing bite as he was kneeled by the side of her bed.

Stan eyed the pig briefly as Waddles squealed and attempted to bury himself under the blankets, shaking.

Another long and loud howl was let out, traveling throughout the shack. Everything else seemed to have gone eerily quiet; all he could hear was that howling. The source of it was coming from inside the shack, no guessing it’s from Dipper; maybe the kid had returned to his normal self…and by the looks of it, he wasn’t taking the situation well.

Stan stroked Mabel’s head as he listened; the howling was continuous, each one louder than the next; he’s heard the kid howl before but never this much and it sounded rather sad with a bit of loneliness in it. It was very different from the other ones from what he can say. The sound faded and a strange mix of whines and growls could be heard as this howl ended, weird, it almost sounded like human crying. The wolf let out another one; normally at this point, Stan would have headed over to Ford’s room and yell at him to shut up to keep him from attracting attention to himself, but could not find the will to do it.

Better leave him be for now, he couldn’t blame the poor kid for feeling that way. He did tear up his own sister and infected her against his control. He’s aware how much pain he brought her; he could practically feel Dipper’s guilt. Dipper must hate himself for this; can’t lie he can relate to the wolfboy in a way. He knew how Dipper’s pain felt; he probably feels really alone.

Grunkle Stan sighed and sadly turned his gaze back to Mabel.

“I hear ya Dipper…Still lookin out for her.”

 

                An hour passed since the howling ended, it had gone deathly quiet in the shack; he was curled up tightly on the long sofa, still grieving. His thoughts still on the events of tonight, he couldn’t find himself to think about anything positive; he just…didn’t want to. How could he; he felt it was selfish to pretend things were ok. He was horribly worried for Mabel; part of him wished that he could go to Mabel’s side and apologize endlessly, comforting her, but the other part of him found it better to stay confined in Ford’s room; he did not want to bring anymore misery, everyone was much safer with him locked away. Even then, he couldn’t build the courage to face anyone right now, he was too ashamed. No one would ever look at him the same way after what he did, and neither will he. The time he had spent thinking about his actions only increased his self-loathing and shame, knowing he could have prevented this outcome, his curse being his own responsibility to control.

Dipper’s eyelids were heavy, but he could not fall asleep, his stress prevented him from doing so. His body still felt icy cold, piercing his skin. It wasn’t a normal chill; more like his insides were freezing up, and it felt linked to his emotional state. It sure wasn’t comfortable to say at least. Instinctively he tried curling up tighter but that only seemed to increase the feeling.

The complete eerie silence and darkness of the room gave him the feeling he was in a black empty void; adding a sense of isolation from the world.

He had not heard a word, sound or a creak from the shack, there probably was sound but he was so deep in his thoughts he probably did not notice.

His paws twitched; he adjusted his head, moving it away from his body by an inch, sighing. His nostrils expanding and contracting in tune with his breathing; his head sunk into the cushions. He sniffed briefly but only got the scent of dust and moisture. His tail clung against him and the end of it lied on the tip of his snout. He squeezed his eyes shut stressfully.

His ears twitched, perking as rattling and creaking noises broke the silence. Dipper’s eyes snapped open, the bedroom door was jerking; someone or something was trying to enter.

He lifted his head curiously and the fur stood on his back; he remained silent. He wasn’t sure how to react; he was already on the edge and certainly didn’t want to cause any more problems.

The jiggling handle eventually allowed the door to be opened and a familiar figure entered.

 

                Grunkle Stan peeked in cautiously with a sad expression, spotting the wolf nephew laying on the sofa alone in in the dark; the kid’s eyes were back to normal, that’s a good sign. Dipper was holding perfectly still, he could see the wolf beginning to shiver, looking like a frightened animal seeking comfort. Dipper moved his right arm slightly.

“It’s just me kid, no need to freak out. I haven’t heard you trying to break down the door in a while and I took it you’re all calm down now. I’ve been taking care of Mabel since I’ve thrown you in here, the pig too…Honestly I can’t really believe you did all that…you really messed up tonight.”

Dipper looked away and whined, ashamed.

Stan eyed the floor for a moment.

“Ah don’t take it too hard…Mabel’s ok if you’re wondering; she’s knocked out in bed. She’s not as sick as she was earlier.”

Dipper looked back at him, his ears flat. He felt a little relieved, but that’s barely an improvement for Mabel’s situation.

Stan looked away sheepishly, sighing. He walked over to the couch and sat down tiredly; Dipper flinched nervously, letting out an uneasy whine. He really shouldn’t get too close…

“…You’re still hurting. I understand that; not exactly something that’s easy to get over…heh, I should know…”

Dipper stared quietly and blinked.

“She says it’s not your fault, I believe her. You’re not the type to do something like that on purpose; you care too much about everyone around ya. I’ve seen you get prepared and lock yourself every night before you turn wolf even though everyone in the shack isn’t scared of ya…Except maybe Soos, he still seems a little jumpy around wolf you.”

Dipper let out a wolf like groan, turning his head away from Stan and placing it down on the sofa; staring out into the darkness blankly.

Stan clenched his teeth, cringing.

“W-What I mean is; I know you’re doing your best not to hurt anybody…Mabel still loves you, she was still worrying about you even after you chewed up her arm, if anything she’s more worried about you then what’s going to happen to her. Mabel’s pretty strong, she’ll bounce back, she probably find some way to enjoy being a werewolf being unpredictable as she is…”

Dipper was unresponsive.

“I get you’re still worrying about her, I didn’t think I could help you easily with how you feel about this, knowing you being…you. I’m keeping a close eye on her for the night if that helps…You can go see her if you want, I’m not keeping you locked up all night.”

Dipper eyed him; he raised his head and stared at Grunkle Stan with big sad eyes. A growl-groan came from him, shaking his head.

Stan raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“No? Yeah didn’t think so, I’m not forcing you. Still, I think you should see her at least when she wakes up, she might wanna talk to you.”

The werewolf moaned half whines, Stan could tell he was attempting to speak…but he had no idea what he was trying to say.

“…Are you actually responding or just moaning? It sounds like you’re saying something, I still can’t tell with you…still haven’t completely figured out on how to interpret werewolf.”

Stan squeezed his left arm and looked away awkwardly as he bit his lip; Dipper placed his head back down. Stan eyed back at Dipper looking uncomfortable.

“You know, without Mabel to help us out, it feels weird trying to talk to ya. With you responding by making wolf sounds and staring at me with that…adorable…puppy…wolf face. Feels like I’m talking to myself, alone…quiet. Nothing personal…just saying; it’s easier and less awkward with her acting as your personal translator.”

The werewolf sighed, closing his eyes.

Grunkle Stan leaned forward, his hands on his knees.

“Things just can’t be easy huh? Though for a werewolf, you sorta do have it easy in a way don’t you? Things could have been worse really.” He smiled, chuckling as he leaned back into the seat.

He gently placed his right hand on the wolf, patting him and stroking his fur calmingly.

Dipper’s body twitched as he felt the hand make contact with his back. His anxiety and fear skyrocketed and his entire being went stiff, within seconds the werewolf pushed himself away scrambling; a surprised yelp mixed with a growl was made as he moved away.

Grunkle Stan recoiled from the sudden reaction from Dipper, his eyes wide. His right hand drawn away from the werewolf; Stan stared silently with a look of confusion. The wolf was shivering on fours, one paw still hanging in the air. His ears laid flat against his head and his tail was tucked between his legs; staring back at Stan with the most fearful sad eyes; looking like a scolded dog.

Stan didn’t get it, what did he do? He hasn’t yelled or done anything remotely threatening, and why would something as relaxing as petting set him off? He swore he didn’t touch his wounds.

“What the heck was that big freak out for? Something spook you? Did I get a sore spot; you never had problems with being petted before!”

Dipper crept away slowly, his large eyes still locked on Stan.

“…Kid what’s wrong?” he looked to his left but found nothing that would freak Dipper out. “What’s bothering you…You sensing danger or something?”

Dipper showed his teeth as Stan reached out; he pushed Stan’s hand away. He did not look aggressive…just scared.

“Come on, don’t be like that, you know I’m not gonna hurt you-” Stan reached out to the werewolf kid again; Dipper eyed his hand and turned away in a sad roar. It sounded very much like a human screaming “No!” which caught Stan by surprise.

Dipper darted off the couch towards the rooms own bath room, hiding, but not very well. Stan rose from his seat slowly, his expression rather hurt; he approached the bathroom uneasily.

“Kid…Dipper…you alright?” He held still.

No answer.

“You gonna come on out?”

A furry head peeked from the door. Stan huffed looking frustrated; he stormed over to the werewolf.

“Knock it off you knucklehead, you’re being ridiculous.” The wolf backed away. “Are you even gonna try to tell me what’s eating you? You don’t like how I smell, you see something I don’t with those wolf senses of yours, what is it? Look, no one is mad at you, no one wants to hurt you; no one is scared of you. What are you even freaking out about?”

Dipper only shook his head.

“Come on, get yourself out of-” Stan reached out to him; Dipper once again shoved it away, snarling. The wolf kept shaking its head.

Stan grew quiet, eyes growing big with realization. He stepped away from his great nephew.

Dipper seemed to calm down, keeping his eyes on Stan.

“You hate yourself that much for what you did? You really think you’re gonna mess up and hurt someone again?”

Dipper briefly paused and silently nodded, letting out a soft whine.

Stan remained quiet, unable to think of what to say at the moment. He took in a deep breath.

“I…I see…don’t want to be around anyone. Well if that’s what you want then fine. I’m not going to keep bothering you.”

Dipper looked rather ashamed.

“Don’t do anything stupid alright? I know how you work Dipper; don’t even try to do something crazy to yourself or whatever that’s going on in your head because I got the feeling that your idea is going to make things worse than it already is. You got that?”

Dipper stared at him quietly.

“Remember, we’re here for ya even if it kills me…just stay calm for Mabel ok? She doesn’t want to see you being tough on yourself…bark if you need anything.”

He turned away from Dipper and left quietly, Dipper did not bark out of protest, only watching his Grunkle leave solemnly. He pointed his head to the right, staring at the floor.

Dipper did feel guilty having to tell Stan to leave like that, not that he wanted to. He was thankful for Stan’s attempt to calm him but it only left very little impact on him. Nothing could get him to lessen the issue of his awful deed.

“Ah great, Dipper!”

His ears perked as Stan shouted across the room.

“I’m not done with you yet!”

Now what? Dipper thought. Did he do something else that he wasn’t aware of?

He heard something being set down.

“Mabel wanted me to give you this, said it will help you.”

He wondered what Mabel told Stan to give to him, knowing her it could be a stuffed animal or a sweater.

“Don’t know exactly how it’s gonna help you; I didn’t catch what she was mumbling about before she passed out, though you probably know what it’s for. Also dropping off your…notes or something, looks like your mumbling to yourself to me. I’m guessing you want this since it was next to this plant and other junk.”

“Plant?” Dipper spoke quietly.

Did he mean _‘that’_ plant?

He heard Grunkle Stan leave the room, the room growing silent and empty once again.

 

                Dipper listened for footsteps or anymore grumbling from his Grunkle Stan; approaching the bathroom door with small careful steps. Detecting no sound from him, he assumed Stan had finished his remaining business with him.

Good, he thought with relief, at least he doesn’t have to worry about Stan’s safety anymore, he can’t risk cursing him. Trying to get his mind back on more important things, he decided to check out the plant Stan left him.

Rising to two legs, he approaches the bathroom’s door way steadily; noticing a faint blue glow coming from the bed room’s entrance. He paused; the color immediately told him what it was.

“Oh...Oh good it’s the flower!”

Dipper darted off to the source of the light, near the bedroom’s door was a large blue flower lying on a bunch of notes.

He stared at the objects, panting as his thoughts and heart raced. If he still had the ability to, he would be sweating bullets.

He picked up the flower, inspecting it as he was cautious with his claws.

“It’s bloomed…and it’s still in good condition, that’s great.” He frowned. “But it’s too late at this point…it would have helped out before this. When did it even bloom?” He rubbed it with his fingers. “I should have kept it right next to me just in case.”

He muttered looking at it sadly.

“If I eat it, I won’t lose control anymore…neither will Mabel but...she hasn’t fully turned yet for it to work, and the flower won’t last to tomorrow night; the effects of it won’t work as well either; a fifty-fifty chance of it working if taken before fully turning…and it depends on how much she ingest…”

He stayed quiet for a second.

“This isn’t right; I can’t let her become one like me, no matter how I look at it. That’s not fair to her; after all she did for me, after all I did to her; that’s not fair. And I would be taking away the thing that can help her. Agh, why is this werewolf stuff so complex?”

He set the plant down, discouraged. Mabel had intended for him to eat it from what he got from Grunkle Stan, but he could not accept the offer…great now he just sounds selfish and ungrateful. That was not his intention, he is grateful; he just believes Mabel should be the top priority of getting help.

“…Mabel, I know you want me to take it for myself…but I can’t do it, not right now, you need it more than I do. There has to be something else I can do.”

He eyed the set of notes, thinking deeply to himself. He swore he could vaguely remember a certain detail.

“She still hasn’t transformed yet, there was something about a cure before the first transformation. I saw that somewhere, I think I did, I’ve had to. It can’t be something I’m making up!” he grabbed the notes, scanning through them desperately.

“I shouldn’t have rushed to write these down…Wait.”

A sentence caught his eye, though he had scribbled it down hastily when he wrote it and it was pretty smudged.

“Can cure before the first transformation. Key ingredients, pinch of fairy dust mixed with…certain rare plants that appear at night…results may vary based on…”

He frowned as he read it thoroughly, his expression growing serious. His ears lowered, his thoughts drifting off as he understood what this meant. He saw no alternative; he was not going to take shortcuts. He knew if he went through with this, he would have to do something that would hurt her greatly.

But he must, for everyone’s protection.

Dipper grimly made his final decision.

 

                She groaned as the sunlight peeked through the window. She turned to her left, burying under the sheets to shield herself from the light. She felt too cozy to wake up right now.

Mabel’s tired eyes briefly opened before shutting them tight.

Her mind gradually realizing that she was awake.

Her eyes snapped open and she sprung up in bed, looking down at the sheets, it was morning already? Last she remembered, she was telling Grunkle Stan about that flower; then she was feeling incredibly sick before blacking out. She could not remember anything else after that.

“Was I out that long?”

She noticed she was still wearing the sweater from last night; the poor thing is pretty dirty, going to have to clean it later.

A large amount of weight struck her in her stomach, she gasped for air while letting out a surprised cry. She clutched the figure out of reflex and stared down at it; stunned for a moment. She exhaled through her teeth, laughing quietly as the sight of Waddles gave her relief.

“Good morning to you too! Sorry I didn’t wake you, were you worried about me...Why am I even asking? Of course you were!” she happily rubbed his pig cheeks.

Waddles left her lap, making himself comfortable on the bedsheets again. Her joy changed to sympathy as she studied his treated injuries; Stan had wrapped up the pigs wounds with clean white bandages. One was tightly around on his waist and the other around his right back leg; it’s kind of cute actually, looks like he’s wearing clothing.

He limped back over to Mabel, cuddling against her, she stroked his head.

“Still a bit sore, aww, at least you’re ok.”

She turned over to Dipper’s bed, empty.

Frowning, she wrapped her arms around herself; she looked down at her feet, deep in thought. She hoped Dipper was feeling a little better; he might still be reluctant to face her. She can understand that, but personally she wished to see him; he needed reassurance more than anything, and some help for her own transformation later.

It feels weird the day after the attack, she didn’t feel different but she felt apprehensive, she was still shaken from last night but that wasn’t the reason why she felt uneasy. She sensed that something else was wrong, something that she wasn’t aware of. Like there seemed something off about the aura around her. She did pick up a sense of loneliness which certainly didn’t help her mood.

Mabel held still, completely silent as her thoughts drifted off from growing exhaustion.

Waddles sniffed her face and licked it adorably, she laughed quietly and pushed him aside; the pig oinking excitedly, he kept trying to reach her face again. His little front legs on her left arm, he wiggled in place happily.

“Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to nod off, I’m still tired from last night…and upset, I feel like things should be better today, but something feels weird. I feel like Dipper should be here by now you know? I mean he’s in his dorky human form again, he doesn’t have to worry about biting me up again…I know he hates himself a lot right now, but he would at least check on me being paranoid as he is and asking me all sorts of questions...and say sorry non-stop.” She grew quiet towards the end of her statement, uncertain.

Waddles only stared.                   

She snapped back up and patted her face to wake herself; she brushed her hair back out of her face and looked to her right, noticing the blue flower was gone.

“Guess Grunkle Stan delivered it to him.” she said quietly.

But she noticed in its place was a folded up piece of paper with writing on top of it, messy writing.

“For Mabel. URG?” She wasn’t sure what “URG” meant, it was written in all capitals so maybe it stood for something “Maybe its short for ‘you are great’?” sounding cheerier.

Curiously, she reached over to it.

She held it in front of her making out the tiny writing “-GENT” under the “URG”, her smile faded, hesitant to unfold it, she glanced back at Dipper’s bed. Her eyebrows furrowed looking serious, wondering to herself.

She exhaled.

She unfolded it carefully.    

‘GENT: It’s Dipper, sorry how I wrote these out…I was in a hurry, I’ll tell you soon why. I can’t bring myself to write it yet.

Question: Did you notice your bite isn’t healing fast like mine did? Did you notice how you didn’t have nightmares about being a werewolf? I’m guessing about that part, not really sure about it. But if you noticed these, you probably (or don’t) realize what I’ve done with that flower.’

 

Mabel stopped there, her body freezing up. Her eyes widening, she quickly tried rolling up her sleeve, but she struggled as did, a sharp pain in her arm made her ache. A white bandage covered her bite, great; just one more thing to remove and it was going to sting as well.

Waddles inspected it, tilting his head.                            

She slowly unraveled it; she saw that the bite was still healing; poking it lightly. She winced and drew her hand away from it, her eyes looked away.

“I don’t even remember having nightmares…he once told me these were signs of becoming a werewolf and yet…Dipper, what did you do?” Beginning to realize what Dipper had done.

 

‘I think it worked because I took a look at your arm hours after giving you it, mine was fully healed by then. I think you get the point, I used the flower on you, don’t ask how I got you to eat it, I even had to use some fairy dust for it to work. Apparently the Blau Mondschein can act as a cure that way, but only before the first sunrise after the first bite for it to work one hundred percent…and the entire flower had to be ingested. Thank Stan for deciding to drop some of my notes off, turns out I scribbled down that info without realizing, we lucked out.

I know you wanted me to take it, but I just couldn’t, it feels wrong to. I had to go against your wishes; I couldn’t let you go through the same misery I‘ve been through. I don’t want you to suffer because of me…no one should…at least I managed to save you from my same fate…I’m so sorry Mabel. I can’t forgive myself for that, I promised to keep you guys safe and I messed up horribly. I tried to regain control and I couldn’t even do that! I still remember every awful detail about it, Waddles just made my cut sore and that was enough for me to lose control, I want to say my instincts played a part too, but I only felt them while eating the ribs, I didn’t feel any right before I bit him, I think I’m actually getting worse as time goes on.

I never want to go through that again, I don’t want to cause anyone misery, I can’t let that happen again!

Which brings me to the reason I wrote this…Mabel, I can’t stay here anymore; I know I promised to stay no matter how bad it gets, but I can’t anymore. Not after that, I can’t risk it; I’m too unpredictable; I want you guys safe more than anything. You guys are the greatest, and I’m glad you all stuck by me.  And that’s the problem, I feel if I just lock myself somewhere in the shack, you guys might get hurt either by me escaping or you trying to get close. I trust you and the others, honest! It’s me I don’t trust, you guys shouldn’t get cursed because you were trying to help me. I’m too dangerous; I’m doing this for everyone, but honestly I don’t want to be isolated, I really didn’t want to leave. I’m really scared; I wish I could at least speak to you face to face before I left. But I didn’t want to risk making things worse.

Don’t worry; I’ll come back it’s only temporary, I’m going to look for another flower or find Great Uncle Ford hopefully, even though it was the only place in Gravity Falls where it grows…maybe someone out there has another, or not. And maybe Grunkle Ford might not even recognize me or return to the shack before I do, that’s fine; I can always come back to check…and to get food. I had this idea on the fly ok? I did pack food for the week, staying in the woods won’t be too bad; I hope, my wolf form will keep me comfy.

You’ll probably wonder why I bothered to write this anyway if I don’t want you to intervene. It’s because I wanted you to at least know and hope you understand, you’ll probably look for me anyway even if I didn’t write this, I know you’ll do it either way. I don’t know what to do anymore, but I have to do this.

Mabel, please, don’t blame yourself for this, don’t ever think it’s your fault I left. None of it is, you were only trying to help me, and I want to say thank you. Don’t be sad, though I can’t control that. I’m sorry I had to break your heart, you’ll be ok.

Stay safe,

Dipper.’

 

                Mabel shook her head, her mouth slightly agape, staring speechless at his message, clutching the letter tightly.

“Dipper…”

She hugged the letter.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She whispered sadly.

She closed her eyes for a moment and reopened them, with a determined look.

“Sorry Dipper, but I…we also promised you…we wouldn’t leave you like that.”

               

                 Darting to the gift shop area (in a clean sweater now), she nearly slipped down the stairs, the pig following close by. She trudged in; fatigue was already kicking in, still a bit groggy. She let out a big breath of air, the letter still in her grasp.

Stan was leaned against the counter, speaking to Soos.

“…what makes you think that stuff actually works?”

“Everyone is naturally attracted to the tempting exclusive limited rare variants that’s only a slightly different color that cost more than it should be, regardless if it’s the same thing or low quality!”

“I’m listening…”

Wendy was lounging, texting.

“Can confirm that, Thompson spent two hundred on some different colored Fight Fighters figure of one he already had. Wouldn’t stop texting us not to tell his mom because he bought it on impulse. Oh man the look on her face.”

“Player two colored dude! I heard only hundred were made. The greatest feeling is to own rare products of the same thing that become meaningless years later and question your spending choices but you feel cool for owning it!”

Mabel looked down awkwardly.

“Uh Grunkle Stan...”

“Hey you finally got up! Now uh look…”he kneeled down to her. “Take it easy ok; just do your thing…whatever your thing is right now. Glad you’re standing; you feeling any different, better or worse?”

“S’up Mabel?” Soos greeted.

“Hey.” Wendy glanced at Mabel with a smile.

Mabel only stared back at him with large sad eyes, trying to catch her breath.

Stan’s smile faded, patting her lightly, leaning closer to her in a comforting manner.

“Still upset about last night, ah don’t worry It’s not going to be so bad tonight…You noticed I fixed up the pig?”

“Yeah. Thank you for that.”

“He kept squirming and chewed on my sleeve, I had to hold the ungrateful pig down, he kept wanting to lie next to ya. He didn’t even give me a thanks…Um by the way, Have you seen Dipper, haven’t seen him since last night…”

“Dipper’s gone…”she blurted out.

“Yeah I know; that’s why I’m asking.”

“No, gone as in he ran away!”

Grunkle Stan looked puzzled; Soos and Wendy looked over to her in curiosity.

“What gives you that idea, he wouldn’t be that stupid…at least I hope he wouldn’t, he was acting skittish when I checked on him the other night.”

“He-he left me this letter; he says he cured me before I turned and that he can’t stay here anymore.” Mabel handed the letter over to Stan; he stood up and moved away, opening the crumpled letter and held it up close, looking annoyed.

“Ah geeze, give me a minute he wrote in chicken scratch. Soos help me out here will ya?”

“No problem Mr. Pines.”

Soos stood next Stan, he cringed at the letter.

“Oh wow, you’re not kidding about the hand writing.” His face grew pale as certain words caught his eye.

“W-wait, Mabel has a bite, and she’s cured and Dipper’s saying he lost control and he tried eating Waddles? Is he turning feral?”

“I don’t know he just flipped out, he had some freaky looking eyes.” Stan retorted.

“He says he just suddenly attacked him and thinks his instincts were part of it, dude I think he might be getting worse, he even wrote that down.”

“Would you stop, half of him is built out of paranoid; he could be rambling for all I know.”

Wendy removed her legs from the counter and stuffed her cell phone away, her left eyebrow raised with inquisitive concern.

“Ok, I’m in the dark so tell me the gist of it, what’s happened with Dipper last night?”

Mabel seemed a bit hesitant, worried.

“Did he attack you last night?”

“…yeah, it was a freak accident he didn’t want to. I found him hurting Waddles and I tried getting him to stop. So he turned on me. He managed to get rid of my curse after he returned to normal. He told me he ran away because he doesn’t believe we’re safe around him. The cure he gave me was originally for his self-control so he wouldn’t snap like that again. It wasn’t even his fault, we have to find him but he’s out in the woods and he refused to tell me anything else, he’s really freaked out about it and he might do some weird teen angst stuff or something.” She stammered. “He’s really upset for he what did; he shouldn’t be alone after that.”

Wendy’s mouth hung open a tiny bit, sad with a mix of shock.

“He did that? I didn’t think a little guy like him could cause so much damage. He’s basically still a pup, and he can get pretty sensitive. He just left you a letter and didn’t even talk to you?”

“Yeah, I guess he left after turning back, hope he doesn’t get himself hurt or lost.” She whispered.

“Hey look, don’t worry; my brothers did something like this before for survival experience, they got lost and ate a few squirrels. Dipper couldn’t have gone that far off and we’ve been through worse haven’t we?”

“Yeah, but not with this much self-loathing.”

“I get why he’s taking this pretty hard, but it’s just a mistake, me and my brothers argue pretty bad sometimes and it stresses me the heck out but everything works out in the end.”

“Tell that to him, bro bro’s not going to listen that easily, and that’s one of the other things bothering me about this.” Her tone serious, looking miffed about this fact.

“He does get stubborn when serious stuff goes down.” Wendy remarked.

Mabel looked down deep in thought.

“He’s more stubborn than usual and that’s making it harder to get him to chill.” Mabel muttered in frustration.

“So he would do something that stupid…Dipper you idiot.” Stan muttered under his breath in an irritated tone.

“Heads up, shack is closed for today because Dipper is having emotional issues and decided running out in the woods like a moron would solve his problems.”

“That kind of true, he did say he’s looking for another plant to control himself.”

“You honestly think he’ll find it with all that weird stuff out there?”

“No…and there was only one out there that could as far as we know.”

“Thought so.”

“Sh-should I run the shack as Mr. Mystery instead today?” Soos asked.

“No, we need everyone we got. We’ll get him back faster that way; there are probably some freaks out there that might want his hide and do whatever who knows what to him. He’s gonna get himself killed at this rate. Alright, Soos your truck is filled up isn’t it?”

“Yeah I think.”

“Ok, we’re splitting up into two vehicles; we’ll cover more ground that way. And remember, don’t tell anyone about this, don’t even ask if anyone’s seen him from town; if they know he’s missing they’ll start looking around and get suspicious and we don’t want them finding out that he’s turning into a wolf every night, nothing good will come out of it. So you kids get your gear together because I’m not turning back until we find that kid. Got it?”

They all understood.

 

                 Soos clumsily tripped trying to organize the merchandise and Stan took off outside.

Wendy didn’t really bring that much with her, so she had to wait, that can get kind of dull. She texted her dad that she’ll be working overtime; she smirked, scoffing at her text. Like she would, working overtime isn’t really her thing and she rather do her own thing after work, he’ll still buy it anyway. He would flip out if he found out about Dipper’s condition and would probably go on a wild goose chase after him; she actually wasn’t sure what they’ll do to him but she rather not find out.

She looked up from her phone and blew her red hair from her face, stressed but she’ll just have to deal with it today.

She noticed Mabel was suddenly missing.

“Mabel?”

She walked around, checking several rooms; she spotted the pig trying to climb the stairs but his bad leg was giving him difficultly. She approached him smiling, picking him up.

“I got you pig, don’t stress yourself.” She carried him upstairs, then setting him down. He darted off towards the twin’s room oinking and she followed.

“Hey, you in here Mabel?”

She entered and found Mabel putting on her own hat she gave to Dipper that summer; Mabel shoved werewolf books, a scrap book, a sketch book with art supplies, and other things into a backpack. She quickly zipped it up and put it on securely.

“You’re ready?” Wendy asked.

Mabel nodded with a determined expression.


End file.
